A loud crunch drew Grison and Cecir’s attention to his hands. Shadowy magic manifested and laced around hisfingers, crushing the rock he’d been gripping. Particles of dust and dislodged bits of stone plinked over the uneven ground.
“She’s under Dagda’s protection, for the time being. Since the king returned to power, he’s become unyielding in his determination to protect both mortals and Fae.” Grison shrugged a single shoulder when Thaddeus looked at him. “He’s become weak. A weak king is not fit to rule any people, most certainly not the Seelie Court or the Fae realms.”
“Nay, he’s not fit to rule,” Thaddeus groused under his breath, knowing all too well the two High Fae heard his every word. Cecir lifted a hand, thin curls of a hypnotic silver-yellow mist weaving between his fingers. Thaddeus jutted his chin toward the magic. “What is that for?”
Grison rested a hand on Thaddeus’s shoulder. A false gesture of camaraderie—an unwanted gesture, at that—brimming with tension and resentment.
“Cecir will finish healing the residual ailments from the iron arrows. Upon your next awakening, we’ll discuss matters of importance in further detail. Many of which are dire. First, we must ensure your strength prior to proceeding with Daeanna’s ultimate plan.” Grison’s lips curled in what Thaddeus suspected should have been a smile but appeared more like a feral snarl. “We need you at your strongest to succeed in carrying out her vision. After all, you were her confidante. The secrets for our success reside within you.”
Cecir’s hand splayed over Thaddeus’s chest before he could open his mouth to ask about Grison’s plan to proceed. A wash of intense heat broke across his skin, burrowing deep into his muscles, his bones, his soul. He ground out a howl between clenched teeth, his body on fire. Tremors wracked every inch of him, down to his fingertips and toes.
Grison guided him onto his back, against the bloody stoneslab as he convulsed beneath the infusion of Cecir’s painful healing magic. At last, he squeezed his eyes shut, willing the pain to subside.
Willing the darkness to return.
“We shall rise from the ruins we’ve become at the hands of all cross-breeds and blasphemous purebloods. Dark days surround us in this hideaway, but we shall rise with your help. ’Tis you who shall bring us new life, Thaddeus. ’Tis you who shall renew Daeanna’s legacy and her pureblooded world…”
Grison’s voice faded beneath the rush of burning magic and blood, tension and pain. His heart throbbed in his chest, echoing in his ears and skull. That blackness he desperately wished for lapped along his conscious mind until he sank into the soothing waters of the unknown abyss that had become his home.
2
Floating, once more, in a void of murky darkness, somewhere between physical and spiritual, conscious and unconscious. A muted sense of discomfort hovered where he believed his chest to be. As with all previous near awakenings, he could not place his body with certainty, only sensations. ’Twas as if he existed outside his physical form.
As he floated weightlessly, he realizedwhyhe roused from unconsciousness.
Darkness. ’Twas his bed.
But a heavier darkness slithered through the viscosity surrounding him. Black, pitch as an endless void, humming along a low frequency tier of energy. So well camouflaged he nearly missed it.
The electrical sting as the tendrils of this strange power tried to break through his mental barriers had stirred him from the depths of his slumber, and it shocked him again as those tendrils insidiously caressed the edges of his shield. Seeking entrance…into his mind.
Thatpower.
Thaddeus paced the tendrils, following their path along the fortress protecting his mind in his vulnerable state. Slithering serpents of foul magic. A gentle prod here. A subtle nudge there. Testing for potential cracks in his impenetrable wall.
Not a weakness was to be found, but his growing irritation over this breach of privacy disturbed the murky waters of this healing sleep.
No one was privy to his mind.
He resisted Cecir’s spell, mentally tearing at the intricately woven fabric of layered magic. The tendrils hastened their search, digging against his shield, attempting to burrow through the impassable.
Bloody fool.
Conjuring strength within this liquid space, he repelled the prodding wisps with a shocking blast.
The darkness shook as it pressed down on him in a fierce rush, a sensation of being launched skyward at an intolerable speed. Pain needled across his skin. Tension twisted his muscles. Teeth clenched so hard his head throbbed.
Until the darkness shattered as he roared back to consciousness.
“Never again.”
Thaddeus coiled dark navy strands of magic around his fingers, stretching the threads between both hands before extinguishing them altogether. The thrum of regenerated magic resonated through his muscles, yet he couldn’t shake the muted resistance to perform spells and cast his power.Something remained off, not entirely healed, subpar in execution. Mayhap the poison had done more damage than anyone suspected. After all, he’d never been the victim of iron arrows before.
With a scowl, Thaddeus pushed off the rock slab that had become his bed for however many days. Every bone in his body suffered the effects of the unyielding bed. Oh, to return to the luxuries he’d been accustomed to!
Luxuries that always included his princess.
Thaddeus flinched.
